Democrats say yay for God!

I've spotted a new trend. It seems that many Democratic leaders have kept their religious faith a bit quieter than their conservative rivals. However, from John Kerry to Barack Obama, faith has become a big issue in this year's election. Will this trend continue? Does it have an impact on the future of the party? Does God think a name like "Obama" sounds kind of weird? In any case, some Kerry quotes illustrating my point:


Yahoo! News - Kerry Talks Openly About Faith and Guns
: "We're running to be lay leaders, but there isn't any way that you're not affected by your fundamental values, the faith that brings you to the table," Kerry said Sunday to worshippers at Greater Grace Temple in the heart of the presidential campaign battleground in Ohio.

...

"I don't wear my own faith on my sleeve, but faith has given me values and hope to live by, from Vietnam to this day, from Sunday to Sunday," Kerry said as he accepted the Democratic presidential nomination Thursday.

...

Kerry's talk of God also could help him shore up part of his base, especially as he spends his Sundays worshipping at largely black churches. Sunday, Kerry told the mostly black congregation at the non-denominational Greater Grace Temple that he and Edwards, who lost his son in a car accident, survived personal tragedy through faith in God.

"I was at war, lost some of my best friends, those I grew up with and those I fought with," Kerry said. "And I sort of questioned, why does this happen, why did this happen, what's going on? We all question. And we learn that even though suffering, through loss, we get in touch with power, with the being, with the almighty."

Even among the scientists and technicians at Florida's Kennedy Space Center, Kerry paid tribute Monday to "the higher power."

"More physicists and more and more scientists, the more they learn in some ways the less they know about some things and the more they believe in that power," Kerry said.

Kerry tries to distinguish himself from President Bush on religion. On CBS' "Face the Nation" program broadcast Sunday, Kerry said Bush occasionally has crossed a line between church and state, although he said he doesn't know if it's intentional or inadvertent.

"I'm Christian, I'm Catholic, it's important to me," Kerry said. "It has served me through my whole life. But as I said in my (convention) speech, I'm not going to say God is on my side and I'm not going to go out and divide people. I want to pray that we are on God's side."